In March 1989, the U.S. Trade Representative requested the U.S. International Trade Commission to conduct an investigation and prepare a report on the competitive position of the U.S. gear industry in U.S. and global markets.

It's probably no surprise to anyone that the majority of the gear industry had a pretty good
year in 2017, and that most gear manufacturers are expecting a pretty good 2018 as well. After
all, most major economic indicators - including the ones that focus on the manufacturing sector - have been positive for some time.

In November, Gear Technology conducted
an anonymous survey of gear manufacturers. Invitations were sent by e-mail to thousands of individuals around the world. More than 300
individuals responded to the online survey, answering questions about their manufacturing operations and current challenges facing their businesses.

In May of this year the U.S. International Trade Commission made public its Report to the President on the condition of the U.S. gear industry. This 200+ page document is the result of a two-year study by the commission, with the help of the AGMA staff and members. It is the most comprehensive and current analytical coverage of the industry conditions and tends presently available. Because of the importance of this report to the industry, GEAR TECHNOLOGY is devoting a good portion of this issue to reprinting the Executive Summary for our readers.

In manufacturing, we all know that
tracking statistics on your operation is
essential for understanding how you're
doing, as well as identifying areas for
improvement. But what does the efficiency
metric actually tell you?

Founded in 1927 as the Machine Tool Show and held every two years, the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) has grown into the largest manufacturing trade show in both North and South America. The statistics for the 1998 show offer a glimpse of the magnitude. Over 1,440 exhibitors showed off 60 million pounds of machinery and went through 5 million pounds of display materials during the week long show. The show organizers themselves sent out 2,632,560 promotional pieces. Twenty-three foreign machine tool associations participated. It took 4,600 trucks to get everything to McCormick Place for the show. There were 450 journalists covering the event, which was attended by 121,764 people. There was $1,034.618,000 worth of business transacted on the show floor of IMTS 1998.

How dynamic load affects the pitting fatigue life of external spur gears was predicted by using NASA computer program TELSGE. TELSGE was modified to include an improved gear tooth stiffness model, a stiffness-dynamic load iteration scheme and a pitting-fatigue-life prediction analysis for a gear mesh. The analysis used the NASA gear life model developed by Coy, methods of probability and statistics and gear tooth dynamic loads to predict life. In general, gear life predictions based on dynamic loads differed significantly from those based on static loads, with the predictions being strongly influenced by the maximum dynamic load during contact.